Into the Breach - Rules, Tips and Tricks

Into the Breach is a fantastic game the honestly deserves more attention that what it is given. Although it may look simple, Into the Breach will test the skills of even the most hardcore gamers. I will guide you through the steps to beat the game.

Basic Guide with Useful Tips and Rules

Rules

The rules of the game are quite simple. You control the Mechs and you have to defend the civilians and their cities from the incoming bugs. Each scenario will host a number of turns in which you and the bugs are able to move. Each mission is hosted in one of four islands. Once you complete an island you move to the next, but keep in mind that it is only necessary to beat two of the islands to go to the Volcanic Island, where the bug infestation is. On the battlefield, you are able to stop the bugs from rising to the ground if any object is on top of it. Water will kill any bug that is not able to fly, but if you are on the water then your Mech will not be able to attack. There are also effects in the game, some include Fire (if anything is stepping on a burning forest it will take damage for the turn), Poison (the one affected will take more damage till the end of the mission), Ice (the one affected is frozen and cannot act until someone breaks the ice) and Smoke (if anything is on the affected tile, it can't attack). Three pilots can be selected that grant the Mech a passive ability. If a city is destroyed then you will lose part of your Power Grid, and if it reaches zero, then you lose. When you lose you get to choose one pilot to keep for your next game, that pilot keeps all his levels and effects.

Islands

There are four islands in total, these islands each have their environment that are different from the rest.

The first is Museum Island, this one is the basic tutorial type Island. There is not much special about this one apart from having plenty of water. In some missions, you will receive some Special Conditions, like having Arial support, Tidal waves and Defence Shield that are active on buildings. This one is easy.

Desert Island can pose some challenges, as there isn't usually much land and water that can be used to your advantage. Here you will receive other Special Conditions, such as having a Cataclysm, which will destroy tiles every so often and Seismic Activity, which will also destroy tiles, that will take anything with it.

Ice Island is the hardest out of the four. On this Island, you will have to take care of not only the bugs but also of Sentient Robots that will attack not only you but the cities too. The water is frozen and there is a lot of mountains. This island only holds one Special Condition, which is the Ice Storm, which will freeze some tiles.

The last Island is the Factory Island which can sometimes pose a challenge. In this island, the water is replaced by Poison, so if a Mech goes in it, it will have the Poison effect on it.

Mechs

The Mechs are what the player controls. Each Mech can host up to two abilities or passive effects. These will impact the battlefield as they may provide the player with more decisions to choose from. All mechs have the ability to use their turn to self-repair, which will grant the Mech with +1 to their life bar and There are four types of Mechs.

The first type is Prime, which specializes in hand to hand combat. This one is the one that will take the most hits and do the most damage, thus it has an average tile movement but a decent heath bar.

The second type is Brute, which specializes in moving the enemies around the map. This one is useful to move the enemy around to stop them from damaging cities and usually using their attacks to hurt eachother. It has a more than average tile reach but lacks in its health bar.

The third type is the Ranged. This one deals with heavy damage at long ranges at the expense of movement. These ones mostly stay in the back of the table unless it is necessary to use it as bait. As previously stated, this one has very poor tile reach and an average health bar.

Lastly, you have the Science class. This one is a weird class, as it doesn't deal with any damage to the enemy, instead, it protects the buildings and tries to push the enemy away from any buildings and ally objects. It has a more than average tile reach and an average health bar.

Tips and Tricks

Lastly, I want to talk about some tips and tricks that may help some beginner players or ones that are struggling with the game.

Coins can be used to buy new Mech squads, and Coins are earned by completing in-game achievements. New Mechs can also be used to create custom squads.

It is recommended to do missions that have a Reactor Core reward, as it may help you upgrade your Mech so it is tougher. Keep in mind that these missions are harder than normal and may take extra skill.

You can undo as many times as you want, but only if you haven't used any abilities.

Some times you might have to sacrifice some mechs to prevent a building from being destroyed, as it is better that you take a hit than a building.

Volcanic Island is only one mission. It is only required to beat two islands to enter it, however, keep in mind that the more islands you go to, the more powered you become, so maybe visit all Islands before visiting this one. Here you have to protect two things, first, the powerlines that act as a building but after a number of turns you go underground and have to defend two bombs, that if defended destroy the hive and win you the game.